LockYour Doors,Windows

By Howard Schwach

The grid area where the burglaries have occurred. On Tuesday afternoon, police officers from the 100 Precinct spread out over a large section of Belle Harbor, knocking on doors and handing out flyers to local residents.

Their message?

Keep your doors and windows secured.

“There have been six reported burglaries in the west end from August to today,” said Captain Scott Olexa, the commanding officer of the 100 Precinct. “The great majority of them have been break-ins through unsecured doors and windows.

They cut through the screens and walk in, taking jewelry and cash.”

Olexa defines the area in which the burglars have struck as a grid between Beach 127 Street and 136 Street and between Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Cronston Avenue.

“I can’t emphasize the need to keep windows and doors secured, especially when residents are away from the house,” Olexa told The Wave. “Doing that would cut down significantly on the burglary pattern.

Residents who were involved in the burglaries, but who asked not to be identified for fear they would be targeted again, said that they believe that the perpetrator is a young light-skinned Hispanic or white man in his late 20’s or early 30’s, who rides around the neighborhood on his bicycle looking for a target of opportunity.

During August, police say, he wore bathing attire so that he would blend in with community members.

The police say that they have set up special patrols and that even the captain has been riding around the area, looking for a suspect.

“If he keeps doing this long enough, we will catch him,” one local source said. “We are close on his trail.”